Monday, 3 December 2012

Grinding to a halt

The last few days have been a bit grim. Last Friday our power was scheduled to be off from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm. In fact it went off about 9.30 am when the outside temperature was 3 degrees Centigrade (37 degrees Fahrenheit) and did not come on again until 6.30 pm by which time it was 2 degrees Centigrade and pitch black, there being no street lights where we live. When we received the notification of this power outage I did think to myself 'what bad planning'. Even if the power had come back on as scheduled, by 4.30 pm it would be starting to get dark and the chances of the weather being mild on November 30 are slim. I amused myself, on Friday morning, by going to the supermarket to do the weekly shop then stopping off at a nearby garden centre where I had a walk around. It was stocked to the gunnels with Christmas decorations and paraphernalia. I can not imagine that they will sell it all. I took myself off out again in the afternoon, returning about 5.30 pm expecting the cottage to be lit and warm, but instead found it to be cold and dark. It was another hour before we were connected up. I spent that hour pottering around the cottage with my coat on!

On Saturday morning we had a visit scheduled from a BT engineer. This was about our fourth attempt at an appointment and this time an engineer did turn up. Over the last few weeks our broadband connection has been getting slower and slower and husband wanted our phone line checked. It turns out that the problem is in the cottage between the master socket and the study. It could be that the existing cable needs to be relaid, which will mean having floor boards and three carpets up. I do not think that the problem will be resolved in a hurry, given that Christmas and New Year are around the corner. At the moment navigating my way around blogs is a slow process as a result of the tortoise like broadband connection. Consequently I am going to have a break from blogging until this problem is sorted out. So for now I shall leave you with a photograph of a recent sunset taken from the back of the cottage.

Oh dear, power outages are something we have learned to live with in Italy, hence log burning stoves and candles are an important aspect of winter! Internet problems as well, definitely time for a blogging break then and thanks for leaving us with a stunning sunset. Have a lovely Christmas and hopefully a speedy internet connection for the New Year.

Welcome to Cheshire

About Me

In 2003 my fifty something husband and I relocated from Surrey to Cheshire. In 2004 we bought a Victorian cottage in need of renovation. Now that is about done we are hoping to enjoy some of the finer things in life along with the inevitable running repairs and gardening.